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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Split Pea Soup without the ham...

I love pea soup. Not the traditional pea soup with the smoked ham hock thrown in. Nope I like the pure taste of the peas to come shining through.

I first tried this soup back in February when I saw it on 101 Cookbooks. I wasn't sure though if the rest of the family was going to like it. Lucky for me they did. It's become one of our cold weather staples and we usually have it about 1 every week or so. Over that time I have made just a few small changes like adding garlic and some chicken stock, otherwise this soup is delicious just the way it is!

If you like you can buy or make a nice crusty loaf of bread to add to this hearty, cold weather meal!!!

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through (but still a touch al dente). Using a large cup or mug ladle half of the soup into a bowl and set aside. Using a hand blender (or regular blender) puree the soup that is still remaining in the pot. Stir the reserved (still chunky) soup back into the puree - you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls or cups, and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

Wow, this looks great. I like to change it up every now and then and do a vegetarian dish so thank you for posting something that fits that!! I don't have many vegetarian recipes that I actually WANT to try. :)

Mmmmm...my favorite kind of soup. Though, I admit, it's usually out of a can and from a guy named "Campbell's"...I've got authentic spicy Hungarian paprika...can I use that or does the "smoked" aspect really make that big of a difference?

Lol...I just made split pea soup a couple of days ago...with the ham hock. I would not have thought of paprika as substitute, but after I read it I could just imagine how good it would be.To top off the coincidence, I used nearly a whole package of paprika in yesterday's dinner: baked beans. I used the rest of the package in chili a couple of days before :)

Mmm. You can another blogger I love both posted about this within the week. It's such a great reminiscent thing for me, pea soup, because I only ever ate my grandmother's. I should give it a shot on my own. Sounds beautiful Judy.